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OSHA Recordable Requirements

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires employers to keep records of illnesses and injuries that occur in the workplace in addition to requiring them to provide the Bureau of Labor Statistics certain data on work-related injuries and illnesses for the purpose of year-to-year monitoring. A case is considered recordable if it is new, work-related and meets one or more of the general reporting requirements, as determined by OSHA.

  1. Injuries and Illnesses

    • Injuries are defined as anything that causes bodily harm such as cuts, fractures, sprains and amputations. Illnesses include both chronic and one-time illnesses, such as skin diseases, respiratory disorders and poisoning. Neither of these lists is exhaustible.

    Work-Related Cases

    • In order for an injury or illness to be considered work related, it must have occurred as a result of a work-related event or an exposure to something harmful in the workplace. The work-related exposure or incident does not need to be the sole cause of the injury or illness. If a work-related event or exposure exacerbated a problem caused by something else, then it is still recordable; however, a case does not have to be recorded if symptoms of an injury or illness surface at work, but are not caused by the work or the work environment.

    New Cases

    • Only new cases are considered recordable by OSHA -- meaning the worker has never reported any of the signs or symptoms before. A case is also considered new if an employee had recovered fully from a previous injury or illness and a later exposure or event in the workplace caused the symptoms to reappear.

    General Reporting Requirements

    • In order to be recordable, an illness or injury must result in death, days away from work, restricted work duties, a transfer to another job, loss of consciousness, a diagnosis of a significant injury or illness or medical treatment that goes beyond first aid. First aid includes the use of non-prescription medication, hot or cold compresses, eye patches, finger guards, etc. For an employee's work to be considered restricted, he must be stopped from performing at least one essential or routine job function or be unable to complete the work day. In addition, a case is recordable if a licensed health care professional diagnoses the employee with a significant injury or illness, even if the case does not meet any of the other criteria.

    Exemptions

    • There are certain workplaces that are exempt from recording injuries and illnesses. Those include small employers with 10 or fewer employees, certain low-hazard industries and all federal agencies except the United States Postal Service. Federal agencies have a separate record-keeping requirement they must comply with and small businesses may still be required to provide data to the BLS if necessary.

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